Incubators Anonymous

[Arielle]

My egg numbers are quite low. The FBCM are laying though-- one hen quit the marans/ EE coop to move in with the hatchery girls. 6 eggs today and expect maybe 3-4 tomorrow. Have 2 customers wanting 2 doz each a week. Cannot make that count and leaves no eggs for us so DH suggested buying from the grocery store. How ironic!

Did a bit of cleaning up the other day and discovered a hidden nest of eggsl A zillion very old eggs. What a waste. ANd here I thought the girls all used the nest boxes!! So much to learn.

I've been looking at the incubators BUT I still need to make the pens outside to accommodate everyone. SO I'm being VERY good and keeping the LG turned off. A black EE pullet is laying; she is from my original hen who is responsible for my chicken problem.

The word is that you should hatch the winter eggs and that will increase the number of hens likely to produce winter eggs. Love that idea!

 

[ki4got]

broody momma's done all the work on her 9, but i got tired of her being snarky at the free range babies (going on 3 months old). i'd put out 2 piles of food, and she'd hog BOTH for her 9, and the other 13 would come back to me begging for food!

so she went back in the egg pen today, her brood doesn't even seem to notice she's gone. they wandered around with the older chicks and then went back to their own bed (dog crate under the deck) tonight like normal.

here's my question... got someone wants to buy all 9 chicks. they're brahma/japanese mutts. told him $5 each and i'd toss in a jap/oegb roo (half sib to the others) if he took them all. is that reasonable? cheap? high? i've done NOTHING to these chicks, they're about as wild as they come, and i have no need of them short of putting them in the freezer, and as bantams I wouldn't expect to get much at that.

 

[DMRippy]

broody momma's done all the work on her 9, but i got tired of her being snarky at the free range babies (going on 3 months old). i'd put out 2 piles of food, and she'd hog BOTH for her 9, and the other 13 would come back to me begging for food!

so she went back in the egg pen today, her brood doesn't even seem to notice she's gone. they wandered around with the older chicks and then went back to their own bed (dog crate under the deck) tonight like normal.

here's my question... got someone wants to buy all 9 chicks. they're brahma/japanese mutts. told him $5 each and i'd toss in a jap/oegb roo (half sib to the others) if he took them all. is that reasonable? cheap? high? i've done NOTHING to these chicks, they're about as wild as they come, and i have no need of them short of putting them in the freezer, and as bantams I wouldn't expect to get much at that.

At 3 months you have $5 in feed in them.

 

[ki4got]

At 3 months you have $5 in feed in them.

well, not really. they free ranged from day 1, and I only put out about 2c of feed a day for everyone ranging. at $20 for 100 lbs, i don't think that's quite $5 in 6 weeks.

i was just curious what anyone else sells 6-8 week old chicks for? either purebred mutt or does it matter?

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

well, not really. they free ranged from day 1, and I only put out about 2c of feed a day for everyone ranging. at $20 for 100 lbs, i don't think that's quite $5 in 6 weeks.

i was just curious what anyone else sells 6-8 week old chicks for? either purebred mutt or does it matter?

I would say around 8-10 dollars.

~Aspen

 

[DMRippy]

well, not really. they free ranged from day 1, and I only put out about 2c of feed a day for everyone ranging. at $20 for 100 lbs, i don't think that's quite $5 in 6 weeks.

i was just curious what anyone else sells 6-8 week old chicks for? either purebred mutt or does it matter?

I think you need to do what you think they are worth. day olds at my place will sell for $3-8 depending on breed. Mutts I would sell for 2-2.50 each. I have heard add a dollar a week, but that seems high to me, .50 maybe a better rate. Roos, just to get rid of them $5 from 3 months on, UNLESS they are special. I sold a Wheaten AM for $8 today. I think I have your email don't I? I have a chart from a CL add as a pdf I will email you. I think he is high though.

 

[Arielle]

If a customer is willing to pay the asking price--go for it. A nice little starter flock. And they're gone and off your plate, so to speak.

I had a customer offer me $5 a dozen eggs, when I was asking $4. I didn't argue with the extra!

 

[DMRippy]

I came to the farm and saw the brooder light was out...

two leghorn/EE crosses were dead

The others might have been too had I not made a temporary brooder heater thing with my flexwatt. the only problem with the flexwatt is that it would not get over 75 but it kept the rest alive. I have the flexwatt running straight from the plug against the recomendations but at least now it will get to 90-95 and I have a brooder light just in case.

On a brighter note, more babies are in lockdown. More Leghorn/EE and Lav/Lav Splits. I think I saw all the Leghorn/EE's moving so

for a good hatch. I just can't see in those AM eggs. I have a 400 lumens flashlight coming soon.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

If a customer is willing to pay the asking price--go for it. A nice little starter flock. And they're gone and off your plate, so to speak.

I had a customer offer me $5 a dozen eggs, when I was asking $4. I didn't argue with the extra!

LOL i had someone message me asking for eggs to give her broody, sure no problem. we couldn't meet up so i told her i'd leave the eggs in a box at the base of my mailbox, i found an envelope in the mailbox later, with $15 in it. LOL not bad for 6 mutt bantam eggs.

and the wild chicklets are gone. well all but 1. she got loose and we couldn't find her last night in the dark. came back today tho and now she's captive in the hoop coop with the 4-6 week old cochins and dorkings. gonna put the other dorking chick-lets out there later tonight while it's dark so the others don't pick on them too bad. they were all together before the others went out, but these guys were only 2 weeks old and hardly had feathers.

 

[Arielle]

$15 for a few eggs--that's great!

Agriculture is more of a dying venture around here. Fortunately some towns are realizing that to preserve their farming heritage laws need to be put on the books. What I really hope is that more people will become interested in chickens as this livestock is easy start up for people moving out of the city area and have never see a cow, a pig, or a chicken.

I marvel at how much ag is flourishing in many areas of our country. Yeah!!

Young pullet is laying this week--a smal, elongated vey pale pink almost white egg. I think it is Midnight, all black. EE mother has a pale pink egg; lays a huge lg-jumbo egg almost everyday. Dad is either a black sexlink or a silver spangled hamburg. I thought dad was a black sexlink but her egg color may be from the white-egg producing Hamburg. If anyone has some ideas on this . . .love to hear them.